Christina of Sweden Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids Christina
Portrait by Jacob Ferdinand Voet
Queen of Sweden
Reign	6 November 1632 – 6 June 1654
Coronation	20 October 1650
Predecessor	Gustav II Adolf
Successor	Charles X Gustav

Born	18 December [O.S. 8 December] 1626 Stockholm, Sweden
Died	19 April 1689(1689-04-19) (aged 62) Rome, Papal States
Burial	22 June 1689 Saint Peter's Basilica, Vatican City
House	House of Vasa
Father	Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden
Mother	Maria Eleonora of Brandenburg
Religion	Roman Catholic Christianity prev Lutheran Christianity

Christina (18 December [O.S. 8 December] 1626 – 19 April 1689) reigned as Queen of Sweden from 1632 to 1654. She was the only surviving legitimate child of King Gustav II Adolph and his wife Maria Eleonora of Brandenburg. At the age of six, Christina succeeded her father on the throne upon his death at the Battle of Lützen, but began ruling when she reached the age of 18.

Christina is remembered as one of the most educated women of the 1600s. She was fond of books, manuscripts, paintings, and sculptures. With her interest in religion, philosophy, mathematics and alchemy, she attracted many scientists to Stockholm, wanting the city to become the "Athens of the North". She was intelligent, fickle and moody. She caused a scandal when she decided not to marry and in 1654 when she abdicated her throne and converted to Roman Catholicism. She changed her name from Kristina Augusta Wasa, adopting the name Christina Alexandra.

At the age of 28, the "Minerva of the North" moved to Rome. The Pope described Christina as "a queen without a realm, a Christian without faith, and a woman without shame". Notwithstanding all that, she became a leader of the theatrical and musical life and protected many Baroque artists, composers, and musicians.

Being the guest of five consecutive popes, and a symbol of the Counter Reformation, she is one of the few women buried in the Vatican grotto. Her unconventional lifestyle and masculine dressing and behavior have been featured in countless novels, plays, opera and film. In all the biographies on Christina her gender and cultural identity play an important role.

Images for kids

Tre Kronor in Stockholm by Govert Dircksz Camphuysen. Most of Sweden's national library and royal archives were destroyed when the castle burned in 1697.
Portrait of king Gustaf Adolf of Sweden
A contemporary portrait of Maria Eleonora, showing the resemblance to her daughter Christina
The 14-year-old Christina as queen, painting by Jacob Heinrich Elbfas
An image of Christina on a 1645 Erfurt 10 ducat coin. Between 1631 and 1648, during the Thirty Years' War, Erfurt was occupied by Swedish forces.
Queen Christina (at the table on the right) in discussion with French philosopher René Descartes. (Romanticized painting by Nils Forsberg (1842-1934), after Pierre Louis Dumesnil
Christina by David Beck
Christina's abdication in 1654, drawing by Erik Dahlberg
Portrait by Jacob Ferdinand Voet
Celebrations for Christina at Palazzo Barberini on 28 February 1656
Letter from Queen Christina to Decio Azzolino in the National Archives of Sweden
Decio Azzolino by Jacob Ferdinand Voet
Galerie des Cerfs
Christina's bedroom in the Palazzo Corsini
Christina's sarcophagus in the extensive papal crypt at the Vatican
Christina by David Beck
Bust of Christina by Giulio Cartari in Palacio Real de La Granja de San Ildefonso
Christina in her later years
Ebba Sparre married in 1652 a brother of Magnus Gabriel de la Gardie. Painting by Sébastien Bourdon

Christina of Sweden facts for kids

Images for kids

See also